It has recently been discovered that regions exist, particularly in the Pacific Ocean, where valuable sea bed materials are deposited, particularly in the form of lumps of manganese, which constitute a valuable product which can be utilised for various branches of technology.
For the purpose of transporting sea bed material particularly in the form of lumps of manganese, it is intended to gather such material with the aid of floating bodies and conveyor devices, that is to say a floating body which is provided with a conveyor device and which is moved over strips of the sea bed, the valuable sea bed materials, particularly in the form of lumps of manganese, being conveyed on to the floating body by means of suction or pressure means.
It is desired to achieve the greatest possible continuity of conveying and of transporting the valuable sea bed materials collected.
It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus for extracting valuable sea bed materials, which apparatus serves the purpose of continuous conveying of the sea bed materials and ensure the greatest possible continuity of transport of the sea bed materials extracted, while achieving a rational utilisation of available energy and a method of extracting such material.